A Different Beginning
by Oniontended
Summary: A different version of how Alex and Donovan ended up in Furnace.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER:**

This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Furnace series, which is trademarked by Alexander Gordon Smith.

Carl Donovan, Toby, and Alex Sawyer are characters created and owned by Alexander Gordon Smith, and I do not claim ownership over them or the Furnace world.

Please enjoy!

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A fourteen year old boy named Alex was ditching school and watching television. His parents had unknowingly left for work. Bzzzt! His doorbell rang. Alex yawned, and halfheartedly stretched his arms before getting up and opening the door. All he saw was a blur before he was knocked down and the door was shut and the lock clicked.

"Hello, Donovan." Donovan, the boy in question, ignored the greeting. He sprinted to the windows and closed the blinds.

"Sorry, Alex", he finally said. "But you can't be too careful doing what we're doing."

Alex grinned. "So? You found a house?" he asked.

Donovan nodded. "The couple that lives in it are vacationing up North, in Canada. Staying for a couple of weeks, and they don't have any pets or people in the house."

Alex said, "Where are my manners? Have a seat." The two boys walked into the living room and plopped themselves down onto the old but comfortable couches. Donovan propped his feet onto the coffee table and whisked out his cell phone. Alex leaned towards him as Donovan showed him some pictures of a luxurious mansion.

"They're very rich", Donovan began. "The husband is a senator and the wife is a heiress. Just look at their mansion! I heard them discussing about the wife's jewelry and their secret stash of cash. Also, something about an art collection?"

Donovan had run away from home after he was sentenced to adult jail after accidentally murdered his mother's abusive boyfriend. They had met when Alex found a starving boy digging through a trash can in an ally. Since then, Alex had been secretly housing Donovan in his family's basement at night, while in the daytime, Donovan disguised himself as an old beggar and begged for money in the city. Not only did they acquire quite a bit of money, he caught many snippets of conversation when rich people decided to go on vacation. Between the begging and robbing rich people's houses, they made quite a pretty penny.

"Let's rob them tonight!", Alex said excitedly. They hadn't burglarized any houses for a while now, and he ached for the adrenaline. Donovan hesitated. "We should stake out the house to double check there aren't maids or something…"

Alex's eyes sparkled and he envisioned himself swimming in pools of molten gold. "Oh, come on, Donovan. Not knowing is part of the fun! Remember that naked guy? Wasn't that fun, running away from an angry guy?" Donovan nodded, and then smiled. He ached for the adrenaline of burglarizing houses, too. It was settled. They would rob again.

The house looked impressive at night, with only the glow of the moon to light it. Alex and Donovan had picked the lock of the front door, and had quickly ducked inside. They were both surprised that no audible alarms had gone off. In all the houses that Alex and Donovan had robbed, they just ran as fast as they could once they heard an alarm. Not quite the best way to do things, but so far it had worked.

Alex whispered to Donovan, "Let's stay together. I don't want to shout to find you". Donovan only nodded his head. He was in his element. Swiftly, he lead Alex up the grand, spiral staircase, crouching and moving stealthily and silently, with the grace of a cat. "How do you know the stuff is up here?", Alex asked him. Donovan smiled and tapped his head. "Intuition", he whispered back. Alex shook his head, but trusted him.

They made their way to a hallway. Donovan chose a door to their left, but it was only a bathroom. A beautiful bathroom, with what looked like precious jewels everywhere, and plush floors. But it wasn't like they could just take the toilet. Alex quietly shut the door, and they opened the second one. It was a storage closet, and it smelled like disinfectant. Donovan then opened a third door, and the third door was the charm.

Alex gave a small whistle. Donovan swore under his breath. They were in a magnificent room, an art gallery of sorts. Sparkling chandeliers hung from the swooped ceiling, and the lights had turned on automatically when they opened the door. The room was filled with paintings by famous artists. There was jewelry so precious and priceless that they were displayed only and looked like they had never been worn. Most interesting to the two thieves, though, were the dollar bills. They were everywhere. On top of the glass cases. On the floors. In the chandelier. Literally, there was cash everywhere. It looked like a money filled hurricane had swept through.

Alex and Donovan turned slowly to look at each other. Then, they dived to the floor and started stuffing money into their bags as quickly as they could. Visions of them in their own mansions as obscenely rich teenagers filled both of their minds. Never would they have to beg for money, or go to school, or lift a finger to work. They would be so filthy rich, they wouldn't even have to walk. They could just hire strong people to carry them around on ruby encrusted thrones.

"HEY!", a loud voice shouted. Alex and Donovan both jumped, and a half second later, started running. But they half second was too long. A boy had a remote control, and he clicked it. The door snapped shut. They boy pressed the remote again, and this time, the cash and art disappeared. Everything sort of faded away, and they were left in an empty white room. Alex and Donovan looked around, dazed.

Then they looked at the boy with the remote control.

"Toby?", Alex exclaimed. Toby was a classmate of his. Since Alex hadn't been attending school much, he didn't really know what kind of a person Toby was.

"Hello, Alex. And you too, Donovan. I remember you two from school." Toby looked at the other two boy's confusion. "This is all a hologram", Toby explained. "Except for me, of course. My father works for the government, and we know how you've been robbing houses. We know about your disguise, Donovan, and where you currently live."


	2. Chapter 2: The End

The end of "A Different Beginning"!

**DISCLAIMER:**

This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Furnace series, which is trademarked by Alexander Gordon Smith.

Carl Donovan, Toby, and Alex Sawyer are characters created and owned by Alexander Gordon Smith, and I do not claim ownership over them or the Furnace world.

Please enjoy!

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**_"Hello, Alex. And you too, Donovan. I remember you two from school." Toby looked at the other two boy's confusion. "This is all a hologram", Toby explained. "Except for me, of course. My father works for the government, and we know how you've been robbing houses. We know about your disguise, Donovan, and where you currently live."_**

"So…..what are you going to do about it?", Alex asked. He was stupefied and bewildered at this boy who knew what he couldn't have, but he thought it was best for him to appear nonchalant and indifferent. He slowly relaxed his posture and stifled a fake yawn.

Donovan, on the other hand, was unsurprised. In fact, he had been half expecting to be caught. His disguise wasn't the best, and come on, what were the chances of two greedy teenagers against the government? He vaguely remembered a Toby from his old classes. Donovan had stopped attending school since he ran away. Donovan glanced at Alex, who winked at him. He decided to play along.  
"Yeah!", Donovan said." What are you going to do? Arrest us? You're just a teenager, like us."  
Toby smiled and shook his head in an infuriatingly smug manner. 'Well, boys, you're right, I can't arrest you.", he said. "But you heard me say my father works for the government, did you not? Ever since the Summer of Slaughter, we can't be lenient with juvenile crime." Just then, a hidden door opened, and menacing men in black suits trooped out. They weren't carrying any obvious weapons, but Donovan and Alex sensed that these men could kill them a million ways with their bare hands.

"As if you were lenient before!", Alex spat. "My friend here was sentenced to adult jail after an accident! He was only eleven! You know what jail does to people? You call that lenient?" Toby smiled again. "Ah, yes. I remember that case. But, age eleven or not, he still committed murder. Jail would have reformed him. But, enough of that. You guys don't have to be punished…."  
Donovan eyed the men. He knew how to spot concealed weapons, and he thought he could notice a small bulge where an ankle holster would be on the man closest to him, about a foot away. He saw Alex look at him looking at the man's ankle out of the corner of his eye, and gave an imperceptible nod.  
Alex knew what Donovan was thinking and began talking to distract the men. "What? Why? Please, give us another chance!", Alex cried out. Toby said, "I want an apology for something you did in the first grade."  
"What is it, I'll apologize sincerely, just please, don't punish us!" Donovan sank to his knees. "Yes, Alex, apologize to this wonderful boy!" He even managed to squeeze a few tears. Alex sank to his knees beside Donovan and they both started crying. They would have made impressive actors.  
Toby laughed at their cowering figures. "Remember in the first grade, when I stepped in cat crap, and you pointed this out to everybody? And do you remember how they laughed?  
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please, please forgive! I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive that horrible, horrible crime!", Alex pleaded. Donovan was thinking in his head that Toby was too sensitive and very bitter, but on the outside, he continued pleading incoherently.  
Then, Donovan started howling. Alex joined in. Along with the weeping, and the howling, and the incoherent pleading, it was quite chaotic. Donovan saw his chance, and quickly dived at the man's ankle. There was a small handgun, but Donovan was sure it was deadly. He grabbed it, and dived out of range. There was a click, and he turned around to see all of the men in black suits had deadly looking guns pointed at their foreheads. He turned to Alex, who was standing next to him. They made eye contact. Donovan looked at his gun. Alex shook his head imperceptibly.  
Donovan didn't know what made him do it. In his later years as a serial killer, whenever he thought back to that moment, he only remembered that he had a compulsion to pull the trigger. He loved the feeling of a gun in his hand, the lovely, addictive feel of power. But back to the room.  
Donovan pulled the trigger, aiming at a man in a black suit, but at the very last millisecond, he jerked his hand the tiniest bit to the side, and the bullet hit Toby instead.  
The men in black suits reacted, and shot Alex. Alex's last thought was how his friend, his dearest friend, had turned into a monster. They were just turning to Donovan, before Donovan shot a man's foot and sprinted out the door. He sprinted, out of the house, out of the neighborhood, and out of that city.  
For some reason, he escaped the wrath of the blacksuits, but filled with paranoia, he disguised himself and hid in several continents before he lead the Winter of Slaughter.

One day, a bodyguard that was only referred to as Sawyer, her surname, hired a private investigator to find a man named Donovan. After some phone calls and favors, they located a man named Carl Donovan in a maximum security prison. He was currently on death row, charged with mass murder. Sawyer had a long, private talk with the executioner, and after some careful flattery and persuasion, the executioner agreed that he would let Sawyer carry out Carl Donovan's execution.

A prison guard led Carl Donovan to the execution chamber, here Sawyer awaited him. While Donovan was walking to his death, Sawyer thought of her brother. How even though she had always ignored him, how she couldn't move out from her family fast enough, she had always loved her younger brother. When her mother called and told her about Alex being murdered, she had wept. He had died too soon, much too soon. Alex's father had told her of how he suspected that Alex had turned to crime, but she had always knew that one day, he would change for the better and show the world he was a new man. But Alex's time had been cut short, and she couldn't even remember her last words to him. Sawyer thought of everything she loved about Sawyer, and then focused on the thought that his murderer was coming, and she had the honor of carrying out his death sentence. She was determined to be angry as she injected the arm that killed her brother indirectly.

When Donovan walked in, and looked into the eyes of Sawyer, he saw the eyes of his friend. He saw the eyes of Alex. And he remembered his dear old childhood friend, he remembered their good times, and he remembered shooting Toby, shooting the black suit, the black suit shooting Alex.

He was chained to a chair. The woman took a long look at him. Her eyes, Alex's eyes, showed no mercy, no compassion. She asked him one simple question. "Why?"

Donovan shook his head, he looked away. He couldn't look at her. " It wasn't my choice. I regret nothing".

Sawyer took his arm, and started the saline drip into his arm. She was handed a syringe and injected the doses of fatal drugs. She watched as he went to sleep, and his absence of breathe when his lungs collapsed. She watched as his pulse stopped. She watched as he left the world, the world here she no longer had a brother.

The prison guard led her out, telling her he would take care of the rest.

She collapsed to her knees and wept for her brother. She wept for everybody who had died too soon, too young. She wept for herself.


End file.
